Men's Lacrosse Visits Costa Rica

The Princeton men's lacrosse team returned Thursday night
after spending seven days in Costa Rica touring, working with local children,
engaging in a project to refurbish a community center and helping bring the
sport of lacrosse to a Central American country where soccer is king.

The Tigers practiced with and played a game against the
Costa Rican national team in the capital of San Jose. In doing so, Princeton
became the first American college team to play in Costa Rica.

Princeton's practice with the Costa Ricans was held in a
large park, and the lacrosse attracted many of the young kids who were playing
soccer on the adjacent fields.

As for the game, Princeton had an overwhelming edge over its
host in skill and experience, and the game itself was non-competitive. The
large crowd cheered wildly for each of the three Costa Rican goals and marveled
the way Princeton as able to play, and by the end, nobody even knew what the
final score was.

At the conclusion of the game, the teams had lunch together,
exchanged jerseys and talked about the sport.

From there, Princeton drove nearly five hours to the coastal
town of Samara.

The team spent some of its first day there at a community
center, running a lacrosse clinic for the local children and then demonstrating
the sport to them with an intrasquad scrimmage.

The next day, Princeton returned to the center in
temperatures near 90 with extreme humidity and spent four hours sanding and
painting the structure, soccer goalposts and fence posts and building benches
and bleachers around the field.

The trip ended with two days in another coastal town,
Tamarindo.

In addition to the lacrosse and service aspects of the trip,
Princeton also spent time whitewater rafting on the Pequare River, ziplining, surfing
and on other touristy activities. Several members of the team also attended the
Costa Rica-El Salvador World Cup qualifier.